Mobilisation of Forest Bioenergy in the Boreal and Temperate Biomes

Dr. Evelyne Thiffault is an assistant professor in forest bioenergy and forest soil ecology and forest biomass at the department of wood and forest sciences of Laval University (Canada) and member of the Research Centre on Renewable Materials. She has a degree in forest engineering (2001) and a PhD in forest sciences (2006), both from Laval University. She manages since 2009 research programs on the ecological effects of forest management on ecosystems, and on forest bioenergy value chains. She has authored/co-authored 26 research articles and 4 book chapters related to forest bioenergy at the local, national and international scales. She is involved since 2009 in Canada’s national team on IEA-Bioenergy Task 43: Biomass feedstocks for energy markets and Task 40: Sustainable international bioenergy trade. Dr C.T. (Tat) Smith is a Professor at the faculty of geography and is Dean emeritus of the faculty of forestry of the University of Toronto (Canada). Professor Smith obtained a B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia, an M.A. in forestry from the University of Vermont, and a Ph.D. in forest resources from the University of Maine. He has experience with the environmental impact analysis associated with bioenergy production systems in North America, Europe and New Zealand. He is co-leader of IEA-Bioenergy Task 43, He has been a collaborator with IEA Bioenergy programs since 1985. He is currently the coordinator of the IEA-Bioenergy Intertask project : Mobilisation of biomass supply chains. Dr. Martin Junginger is associate professor at Energy & Resources (E&R) of the Copernicus Institute, Utrecht University, and leads the bioenergy cluster of the E&R group. He has a background in chemistry and environmental science, and joined the staff of E&R in 2001 as PhD student, doing extensive research on the technological development and associated cost reductions of several renewable energy technologies, including onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass CHP plants in Sweden and biogas plants in Denmark. He is leader of IEA Bioenergy Task 40 He works amongst others on charting and projecting international trade in biomass and biofuels (with a special focus on wood pellets), and identifying limitations and opportunities for bioenergy trade. His expertise includes solid biomass logistic supply chains and GHG balances including forest carbon accounting. Dr Göran Berndes is associate professor for Physical Resource Theory at the Department for Energy and Environment of Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg (Sweden), researching the development of energy systems and of land use, He is international leader of IEA Bioenergy Task 43 and also a member of several other international expert groups. He served as lead author for the bioenergy chapter in the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation and currently serves as contributing author on bioenergy and land use for the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. He has an MSc in Engineering Physics and a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Physical Resource Theory.

• 1. Introduction. Background, theoretical framework.2. Models of forest biomass supply chains in various countries3. Challenges and opportunities of logistics and economics of forest biomass mobilisation.4. Social and economics aspects of forest biomass mobilisation. 5. Environmental sustainability aspects of forest biomass mobilisation, including soil, biodiversity, water and carbon balance.6. Challenges and opportunities for the conversion technologies used to make forest biomass based bioenergy/biofuels7. Challenges and opportunities of international trade of forest biomass 8. Forest bioenergy deployment in the absence of bioenergy policies/targets, with examples from Canada and Australia.9. Quantifying forest biomass potential for mobilisation in the face of challenges and opportunities in the boreal and temperate biomes.10. Conclusion: Synthesis and classification of main barriers and opportunities to mobilisation; comparisons and expectations of mobilisation of forest biomass in other biomes; recommendations.